JPS6039030B2 - automatic paper inserter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to checking the EO character density of a stop mark printed on the surface of a sheet of paper and indicating the automatic stop position of the sheet in an automatic paper inserter.

A so-called automatic paper inserter that automatically inserts paper, performs printing, and then ejects the paper is well known.

In this automatic inserter, in order to stop the paper at a predetermined printing position, a stop mark printed in advance at a predetermined position on the surface of the paper is detected. Therefore, if the stop mark is insufficiently dark, automatic stopping will not be performed properly. In this invention, the density of the stop mark is checked at the time the stop mark is printed on the paper surface, and if it is insufficient, it is reprinted, but the pass judgment level of the density is different from that during normal operation. than the detection level.
This takes it to a much deeper level. Previously, the print density of the stop mark was not checked at the time of printing, and the stop mark was given only after printing once, so if the density was insufficient, a detection error would occur during automatic paper insertion. However, in order to always obtain sufficient print density with only one printing, it is necessary to constantly replace the printing ribbon with a new one, which is also uneconomical.

Therefore, this invention was made to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks, and the darkness of the stop mark printed on the paper surface is checked by the printing device at the time of printing, and if the darkness is insufficient, the darkness of the stop mark printed on the paper surface is checked. If the specified density is not obtained even after printing is repeated several times, the operator is alerted that the ink ribbon has reached its limit of deterioration. It is necessary to set the determination level to a sufficient concentration with a margin.

Next, the invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of paper used in an automatic inserter, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of paper used in an embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a detailed diagram of the amplification and pass level determination circuit 42;
The figure is also a detailed block diagram of the control circuit 5.

In Figure 1, 1 is paper and 2 is a stop mark.
21 is a stop mark for the first line, 22 is a stop mark for the second line, 23 is a stop mark for the third line, and so on.

3 represents printed characters, symbols, etc., 31 represents the first line, 32 represents the second line, and 33 represents the third line.

Now, if the paper 1 is inserted outside the inserter with the stop mark 21 and the first line 31 printed on it, the mark 21 becomes the reference for determining the stop position pupil, and the second line is the setting. Then, the stop mark 22 and the second line 32 that will serve as a reference for the stop position the next time the paper is inserted into the inserter are printed.

Then, the next time it is inserted, the third line is set using the stop mark 22 as the reference for the stop position, and the mark 23 and the third line 33, which should be the reference for the stop position, are printed the next time it is inserted. Ru. A minus sign (one) is used as a stop mark. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 4 is a stop mark detector, 41 is a detection sensor, 42 is an amplification and pass level determination circuit, and 5 is a control circuit. 7 is a motor, 8 is a timing pulse generator, 9 is a motor drive circuit, and 10 is a printing device control circuit.S, is a stop mark detection signal,
S2 is a mark judgment level instruction signal, S3 is a mode control signal, S4 is a timing pulse, S5 is a stop mark printing end signal, S6 is a stop mark printing instruction signal, S7 is an external control signal, and S8 is a stop mark alarm signal. , A indicates the paper insertion direction. In Fig. 2, when paper 1 is set in an automatic inserter (not shown), a paper detector (not shown) detects that the paper has been set, and the automatic inserter automatically directs the paper toward the printing device in the insertion direction. A
feed in the direction of

Then, the detection sensor 41 detects the stop mark made on the paper during the previous insertion, and the amplification/pass level determination circuit 42 generates a signal S. Upon receiving the signal S, the control circuit 5 starts counting timing pulses S4 generated from the timing pulse generator 8 using its internal timing pulse counter, and when the count reaches a predetermined number, it issues a signal S3. , controls the motor drive circuit 9 to stop the motor 7, stops the feeding of the paper 1, and simultaneously issues a signal S6 to inform the EO character device control circuit 10 that the paper has stopped. This is because after the detection sensor 41 detects the stop mark, the motor 7 is stopped when the paper is fed a certain predetermined distance and the paper reaches the appropriate EO position. Therefore, the position at which the paper stops is the position at which printing is performed correctly on a predetermined line on the paper surface. When the printing device control circuit 10 receives the signal S6, it prints a stop mark on the paper surface that will serve as a reference for the stop position the next time the paper is inserted outside the inserter. When printing is completed, the printing device control circuit 1 sends a signal S5 to inform the control circuit 5 of the completion of printing. The control circuit 5 receives the signal S
5, generates a signal S3, controls the motor drive circuit 9, reverses the motor 7, and moves the paper 1 in the opposite direction to A.
I'll bring it back. Then, the paper 1 is stopped after reaching the position where the stop mark just printed is sensed by the detection sensor 411. Timing pulses are also used to return a predetermined distance in this manner. That is, the control circuit 5 learns the return amount of the paper 1 by the signal S4 (timing pulse) generated from the timing pulse generator 8 when the motor 7 is driven in reverse, and when it reaches a predetermined amount, the control circuit 5 outputs the signal S4.
3 to stop the motor. At the same time, the control circuit 5 generates a mark determination level instruction signal S2. The amplification and pass level determination circuit 42 that receives this signal S2,
The acceptance judgment level of the darkness of the mark is switched to a level that is somewhat darker than the darkness level adopted when the paper is inserted outside the inserter and stopped in the normal use state.
This is realized by the transistor Q, which receives the signal S2, acting as a switch and changing the voltage of the reference level Vs of the comparator 421 in FIG. 3 showing details of the determination circuit 42. In FIG. 3, So is the amplified signal of the signal from the detection sensor 41, R, R2, and R
3 is a resistor, and 10 Vcc is a power supply. In this way, the next time the inserter is inserted, the stop mark printed as the reference position for stopping is fed backwards to the detection sensor 41, and the detector 4 checks whether or not it can be detected. Ru.

If the stop mark cannot be detected, the paper is fed again to the first stop position, a mark is automatically printed again on top of the previously printed mark position, and the paper is fed in the opposite direction again until it reaches the detection sensor 41. It is checked whether detection by the sensor 41 is possible. That is, to explain with reference to the circuit of FIG. 2, when it is checked whether or not the stop mark of the paper that has been reversely fed up to the detection sensor 41 can be detected by the detector 4, the check result is determined by the signal S. This will be transmitted to the control circuit 5. The control circuit 5 learns the check result from the signal S, and then issues a motor control signal S3 to stop the motor 7, thereby stopping the paper 1, and moves the stop mark again in the direction of the A mark to the printing position of the printing device. The sheet is fed until it reaches , and stopped at this position, and if the check result shows that it can be determined, the series of operations from inserting the sheet into the inserter to stopping is completed. If the check result shows that it cannot be determined, the signal S
6 to give an instruction to the printing device control circuit 1. Upon receiving this, the control circuit 10 again prints the mark on the surface of the paper over the previously printed stop mark, and the printing is completed. is notified to the control circuit 5 by the signal S5. When the control circuit 5 receives this S5 signal, it repeats the operations of reversely feeding the sheet, checking the determination possibility, forwarding the sheet, and stopping the sheet again. This kind of repeated operation is continued until the stop mark can be determined, or until the number of repetitions reaches, for example, three times, and if it is still undetectable after three repetitions, the repetitive operation is stopped and the alarm signal S8 is activated. occurs. The number of repetitions is determined by a counter inside the control circuit 5. This alarm signal S8 notifies the operator that the determination cannot be made and informs the operator of the need to replace the ribbon of the printing device. Next, a detailed block diagram of the control circuit 5 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, 51 is a coder, 52 is a programmer full counter, 53 is a motor control circuit, 54 is a sense control circuit, 55 is a feed control circuit, and 56 is a check counter.

First, the operation mode from the detection of a stop mark when paper is inserted into the inserter to the stop of paper feeding will be explained. Initially, the mark judgment level instruction signal S2 instructs the judgment level to be on the thin side.

Upon receiving the stop mark detection signal S, the sense control circuit 54 outputs the stop mark signal S. Generates 7. Check counter 56 is reset by this signal S,7.
Further, the feed control circuit 55 receives the signal S. If you receive a 7,
The programmer full counter 52 is reset by sending a reset signal S,4. The counter 52 starts counting timing pulses S4 and generates an output signal S,3 when the count value specified by the output signal S,2 from the coder 51 is reached. The feed control circuit 55 receives the signals S,
When the motor control circuit 53 receives the signals S and 5, it generates the signals S and 5 to instruct the motor to stop.
Based on the timing of the timing pulse S4, a motor control signal S3 is issued to instruct the motor to stop, that is, to stop feeding the paper. The feed control circuit 55 also issues a stop mark printing instruction signal S6 to instruct printing of a stop mark to be used the next time the inserter is inserted. Next, an explanation will be given of an operation mode when checking the print density of the stop mark after printing the stop mark on the paper surface.

When the stop mark is printed on the paper, a stop mark printing end signal S5 is received from the printing device control circuit 10.

Upon receiving this signal S5, the feed control circuit 55 outputs the signals S,
．． is sent to the coder 51, and the coder 51 sends the signals S, 2 to designate the count capacity of the programmer full counter 52, and the counter 52 is reset by the signal S, 4 from the one-way feed control circuit 55. Also, the feed control circuit 55
The motor control circuit 53 generates a signal S3 to instruct the rotation direction of the motor, that is, the paper feeding direction, and the start of feeding. The feed control circuit 55 also issues a mark check command signal S,6, and upon receiving this, the sense control circuit 54 outputs a mark judgment level command signal S2.
, and instruct them to set the mark pass judgment level to a higher level. The motor drive circuit 9 is operated by the motor control signal S3, and the paper is fed in the opposite direction to that at the time of insertion.At the same time, the timing pulse generator 8 generates a timing pulse S4, which is counted by the programmer full counter 52.

In this way, the counting capacity of the counter 52 is determined so that the paper is fed until the stop mark to be checked reaches the position where it should be sensed by the detection sensor 41, and then the paper is stopped at that position. is sent a predetermined distance and the count amount of timing pulses in the counter 52 reaches a predetermined capacity, the programmer full counter 52 generates the signal S,3, and the sending control circuit 55 receiving this generates the signal S.3. 5 to drive the motor control circuit 53 and generate a motor control signal S3 to temporarily stop the motor, that is, temporarily stop the paper. The feed control circuit 55 also generates a check count signal S,8, which is counted by a check counter 56. After that, the paper starts to be fed in the insertion direction, and the paper is fed to the first stop position, that is, the position where the stop mark to be checked is at the printing position, and then stopped.

At this time, the paper feeding amount, feeding direction, etc. are also controlled by the programmable counter 52, motor control circuit 53, and feeding control circuit 55, as described above.
Here, if the stop mark detection signal S, is generated during the period when the paper is being fed in the opposite direction to the insertion direction, the sense control circuit 54 is generating the stop mark signal S,7, and this The check counter 56 is reset by the signal S,7, so that the stop mark alarm signal S8 is not generated. When the feed control circuit 55 receives the stop mark signals S, 7, the print check operation is completed as a check pass when the paper is returned to the initial stop position and stopped. On the other hand, if the stop mark detection signal S, is not generated during the period when the paper is being fed in the opposite direction to the insertion direction, then the sense control circuit 54 also does not generate the stop mark signal S,7.

Therefore, check counter 56 is not reset. At this time, when the paper returns to the initial stop position and stops, the feed control circuit 55 generates a stop mark printing instruction signal S6 to instruct printing of a stop mark, and prints the stop mark previously printed by the printing device. Then, the printing end signal S5 is inputted to the feed control circuit 55. Upon receiving the print end signal S5, the control circuit 55 repeatedly performs the above-described print check operation. The check count signal S. 8 is counted by the check counter 56, and if the stop mark is successfully detected and the stop mark signal S, 7 is generated, the check counter 56 is reset and the printing check operation is completed, but the stop mark is not stopped. If the mark detection is not successful and the stop mark signal S, 7 is not generated, the print check operation is repeated n times, that is, the check is performed (n+1) times in combination with the check count signals S, 8 during the first print check operation. The printing check operation is performed until the number of times signal S, 8 is counted, and when the signal S, 8 is counted (n+1) times, a stop mark alarm signal S8 is generated to alert the operator to the detection of the stop mark. Since this is not possible, it will inform you that it is necessary to replace the ink ribbon of the printing device with a new one. Further, upon receiving the alarm signal S8, the feed control circuit 55 ends the print check operation, and the automatic inserter moves on to the next operation. In this embodiment, the value of n is 2, and the alarm signal S8 is generated when the signals S and 8 are counted three times. As described above, according to the present invention, the printing device automatically checks at the time of printing to ensure that the print density of the stop mark on the surface of the paper is sufficient.
This completely prevents a detection error from occurring the next time the paper is inserted into the inserter. In addition, when printing general texts and numbers other than the stop mark, it is often not a problem even if the color is slightly faded as long as it can be read by the human eye, but the stop mark is readable by machine, so it must be printed at a density higher than the specified level. is necessary. Therefore, when the same ink ribbon is used to print both a stop mark and a text, the density of the ribbon may be sufficient for printing the text but insufficient for printing the stop mark. Previously, in such cases, it was necessary to replace the ink ribbon, which was uneconomical.
According to this invention, even if the density is insufficient in one printing, the density of the stop mark can be made sufficient by repeating printing several times, which ultimately extends the life of the ribbon. Therefore, the economic efficiency is great. In particular, according to the present invention, when checking the print density of a stop mark, the check will not pass unless the print density is higher than the density that can be detected when normal paper is inserted into the inserter. Therefore, it is absolutely certain that paper that has passed the check method according to the present invention will always stop at the correct predetermined position when inserted into the inserter, regardless of the surrounding conditions of the device. The effects are significant from a practical standpoint.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of paper used outside the automatic inserter, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
4 is a detailed diagram of the amplification/pass level determination circuit 42 used in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of the control circuit 5. In the figure, 1 is paper, 2 is a stop mark, 3 is a printed character or symbol, 4 is a stop mark detector, 41 is a detection sensor, 4
2 is an amplification and pass level determination circuit, 5 is a control circuit, 6 is a feed roller, 7 is a motor, 8 is a timing pulse generator,
9 is a motor drive circuit, 10 is a printing device control circuit, 421
51 is a comparator, 51 is a coder, 52 is a programmer full force counter, 53 is a motor control circuit, 54 is a sense control circuit, 55 is a feed control circuit, 56 is a check counter, S
, is a stop mark detection signal, S2 is a mark judgment level instruction signal, S3 is a motor control signal, S4 is a timing pulse, S5 is a stop mark printing end signal, S6 is a stop mark printing instruction signal, and S7 is external control. signal, S8 is a stop mark alarm signal, A is the paper insertion direction, So is the amplified signal of the signal from the detection sensor, S, . is an input signal of the coder 51, S,2 is an output signal of the coder 51 and is a signal specifying the count capacity of the programmer full counter 52,
S,3 is the output signal of the programmer full counter 52, S
．． 4 is a reset signal for the counter 52, S, 5 is an input signal for the motor control circuit 53, S, 6 is a mark check command signal, S, 7 is a stop mark signal, and S, 8 is a check count signal. , O ー Illustration z diagram/r ro 4★ri diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic paper inserter, a means for detecting a stop mark on the paper, a means for setting the lowest level of the detection judgment density of the stop mark in the detection means, a means for printing the stop mark, and a means for printing on the paper surface by the printing means. Immediately after printing, it is automatically checked whether the density of the stopped mark exceeds the lowest level that can be detected and judged by the detection means, and the level is detected and judged when the paper is constantly inserted into the inserter. An automatic sheet inserter comprising: control means for causing the setting means to set the density to a level one level higher than the lowest level.